Jim Whitehead, PhD
Email: ssarcoqld@hotmail.com
https://doi.org/10.61618/SLNJ8873
Abstract
The Australian Search Urgency Assessment (SUA) form is used by search coordinators as a means
of determining the level of response to a Search and Rescue (SAR) incident.
A recent inquest into the death of a young snowboarder and the use of the SUA highlighted the need
for this form to be regularly revisited during the search operation, particularly as the situation and
circumstances change.
A regular review of the SUA during the incident would have identified the increase in urgency, and
subsequent response, as the incident evolved.
KEY WORDS: Search Urgency Assessment; Search; Resource activation; Urgency